Stocking top



April :24, 1928. 1,667,352

H. LICHTEN STOCKING TOP Filed Feb. 26, 1924 INVENTOR flarald Kick ielzATTORNEY Patented Apr. 24, 1928.-

UNITED STATES HAROLD LICHTEN, OF PHILADELPHIA; PENNSYLVANIA.

STOCKING TOP.

Application filed February 26, 1924.

The present invention relates to an improvement in the welt or top ofhosiery.

Some of the objects of the present invention are to provide a welthaving strengthening characteristics to offset the wear and strain of agarter or supporter of the grip type; to provide a stocking welt havinga continuous reinforcing band knit in and around it; to provide astocking welt with a reinforcing band for cooperatin with a garter or asupporter and providing means for indicating the location of thereinforced portion; to provide an in'iproved reinforced stocking welt;and to provide other improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 represents a stocking top or weltembodying the present invention in the first stages of the knittingprocess; Fig. 2 represents the same in the second stage; and Fig. 3represents the welt or top wit-h the completed stocking knitted thereto.

Referring; to the drawings, one form of the present invention is shownand described in conjunction with the making of a full fashioned pieceof hosiery, and therefore in considering Fig. 1 it will be understoodthat the fabric there shown is a single flat piece, knit of a. widthsubstantially twice the width of a finished stocking top. In Fig. 1, theknitting of the fabric starts at the knitted course 10, and as initiallyset up the needles receive a single thread so that the portion soknitted is the ordinary single fabric of the usual stockingconstruction. This single thread knit-ting is continued for a suitabledistance to give the desired single fabric band for a purpose which willlater appear, and then an additional thread is introduced to theneedles, for example at the band 11, so that as the knitting machinecontinues to knit the fabric a band of double thickness fabric 12 willbe produced, and the width of this band is preferably such as toaccommodate the ordinary round garter or provide sufiicient space forthe attachment of the grips of the supporter type ofgarte-r. In theresent instance, this double knit fabric continues to the course 13,where the extra thread is thrown out, and the knitting machine resumesthe single thread knitting, and knits a band 14, the length of which isapproximately twice the length it is to be in the finished stocking.When this length of Serial No. 685,208.

characteristics different from the thread theretofore used, isintroduced, as shown at 15, and as soon as this is knitted into thefabric, the additional thread is again thrown into the needles andcontinued until the width of this double knit band 16 is the same as thefirst double knitted band 12 between the courses 11 and13. \Vhcn thewidth of this last band has been completed, another thread ofdifferentcolor is introduced, as shown at 17, so that the double knitfabric is definitely located by the indicating means formingrespectively the bands 12 and 16. With the completion of this lastidentifying course, the knitting machine goes back to the knitting ofthe single fabric, and finishes a length corresponding to the lengthbetween the reference numerals 10 and 11, the last length beingindicated by 18. The top or welt formed by the steps just described inconnection with Fig. 1 is nowfolded transverselg on the line 1919 andthe free end place uopn the needles of the machine to form a seam 20,Fig. 2, extending across the fabric, and from then on the machine knitsthe stocking leg of the ordinary single ply fabric. When the properlength of the stocking has been knit, it is removed from the machine andtransferred to a footer, which knits or attaches the foot to the leg ofthe stocking, while a. seaming machine completes the stocking by forminga seam 21, Fig. 3, lengthwise of the back of the stocking after thelatter has been folded lengthwise on the line 22, Fig. 2. The completedstocking embodying the present invention is shown in Fig. 3, andconsists of an inner and an outer top band 23 of single fabric, an innerand an outer reinforced part of double thickness 24, which serves toreceive the garter, and an inner and an outer single knit band 25,fromwhich the stocking leg of single fabric continues. The transversebands 15 and 17 by reason of the folding over of the band 12 aredisplayed on the outer circumference of the welt, and definitelyindicate and define the width of the reinforcement or fabric of doublethickness upon which the garter is located or to which a supporter gripcan be attached.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that by the present invention astocking welt is formed of double thickness of material extendingcircumferentiall about the top of the stocking proper. Within theconfines of this welt there is a continuous band of double knit fabricboth on and knit into the inner and outer portions of the welt, so thatthe welt, in addition to having a double thickness, is also providedwith a reinforce ment in which the fabric contains more threads than arein the single fabric. This welt is particularly adapted to withstand thewear of either a round garter or a garter with grips, and to the latterit is particularly suited because the grips may be placed at any part ofthe reinforced hand because all portions thereof are of equal strengthand durability.

\Vhile but one form is shown in which this invention may be embodied, itis to be understood that the-invention is not limited to any specificconstruction or to a specific use to full fashioned hosiery, asobviously it might be employed with seamless stockings or stockings madeon a circular machine and applied in various forms without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a stocking construction, a welt, a continuous reinforcing bandextending circumferentially in said welt and formed of fabric knittedwith more threads than the body of said welt and of a greater thicknessthan said body, and a pair of spaced bands on opposite sides of saidreinforcing band and formed by knitting a yarn of different color fromthe yarn in said reinforcing band.

Signed at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, this 30th day of January, 1924.

HAROLD LICHTEN.

